Honey Rutile Facet Rough

These are facet rough of lab created rutile, titanium dioxide. This is what we call 'honey' rutile since it has a strong base color- it's a custom commission so the experimental crystals have varying color intensity.  Some also have cracks - we have photographed each piece both frontlit and backlit to help see what you're dealing with.

Rutile has the highest dispersion of any transparent gem material.  In practical terms that means it has the most insane fire you will ever see in a gemstone, throwing rainbows with the slightest provocation.  It is simply impossible to capture on camera--they look good in a picture but great in person.  It only has two downsides: its relatively low hardness of 6.5, a bit over tanzanite and suitable for pendant usage, and how difficult it is to get these days.

Crystals of rutile are grown for a few high end optical applications, particularly for very powerful prisms, as well as for use as a substrate to grow other crystals on.  Production of gem grade is fairly scarce today.